I blog about my jewelry inspirations. Readers will find that various elements of nature are my inspirations. Of course, I include jewelry making tips. This blog also includes some of my favorite Etsy shops, bead shops and jewelry customers.

DIY Wedding Series-Save the Date

The real question is, "Why bother with a "Save the Date" card or
email?" That is exactly what I asked a number of times in addition to
what form this notice should take. According to my daughter the
bride-to-be, "All of my friends are so busy that they need to have the
date on their calender 6 months ahead." I remember when I was young, I
did have plans every weekend and holiday. Now that I am retired, I love
having nothing planned. After having gotten the "Save the Date" cards
out in the mail, I can identify some positive outcomes of this
tradition.
1. It forced us to get our "invite list" done.
2. Thanks to the online wedding planner "the knot"
the bride and groom-to-be and I were able to work on it virtually from
different geographic locations whenever we had time. We’ve used the
online wedding planning tools to enter the name of each person being
invited, the email address, street address, and the same information for
his or her guest. This same list will serve as a database for bridal
shower information, wedding invitations, rehearsal dinner invites, thank
you notes, place cards, tracking replies etc. etc. It is work
getting set up, but once it is done, you are set for a well organized
event.
3. This database also identifies how many cards and
envelopes you need. We have 113 people invited, but we only need 65
save the dates and invitations because not everyone has a guest.
4.
It also enable to get any problems with addresses identified because
the post office was kind enough to return to me all of the envelopes
with problems. We only had 3 returns out of about 65. Not too bad!

There are a number of formats that you can use for the "Save the Date". If you do a quick search in the knot, you find there are lots of commercial options form traditional paper postcards, postcards you can email, magnets, etc. The knot
even provides a free email option for you. Personally, I would have
selected that one because it works seamlessly with the website and it is
free. My daughter on the other hand really wanted something that her
friends could hang on their refrigerators. Go figure! If you go that
route, there are many choices and companies to select from.

My daughter loves my handmade cards so she
insisted that I make her "Save the Date" magnets. Using the wedding
colors is part of this whole save the date. It should also give a hint
of what the event will be like. The wedding colors are lavender,
green, and gold. The wedding is taking place on the beach and the
reception will take place at a facility there is a view of the Delaware
Bay and Atlantic Ocean. The groom is wearing a suit so it is dressy but
not a black tie formal event. The bridal gown is long and lacy.
Enough information to come up with the design!

I
used the 2 main wedding colors make up the foundation of the card. The
purple is the bottom layer and the green is glued on top. I used high
quality paper from Stampin' Up. I also used some of their linen thread to give the card a casual feel.

Martha Stewart has a starfish punch that I selected to create starfiish with gold Stampin' Up
paper. Notice how I am pulling in the gold color and the beach
atmosphere. I used real starfish, but they did not hold up well in the
mail so I would recommend paper starfish. In retrospect, I would do a
test mailing to see how your card wears postal service travel. I did
weigh the card prior to the mailings so I new I had the correct
postage. Also, make sure to put your return address on each so you know
if there are any address problems.

I
selected brown ink that looked like gold to pull in the linen thread
and starfish. The bride prefers cream to white so everything connected
to this wedding is cream colored including table linens and wedding
gown. Cream colored paper makes up the top layer of the card.

The final step involved placing magnets that I purchased from Michaels
on the back so that these save the dates can be hung on refrigerators
as the bride-to-be requested. All of the cards were then mailed in high
quality cream colored envelopes that I purchased from Stampin' Up. I think that wording on these DIY "Save the Dates" give a hint of the wedding theme and style.

I
must warn you that before you jump into a DIY project like this that
experience making cards and making tables with a word processor are
probably skills that you should have. I have been making and selling
cards for awhile on my online BayMoonDesign Etsy store.